COLGATE ROCHESTER CROZER DIVINITY SCHOOL

By:

CRCDS

ROCHESTER, NY – (May 13, 2010) The Board of Trustees of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (CRCDS) on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 appointed the Right Reverend Jack M. McKelvey, retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester, as its interim president. Bishop McKelvey’s one-year term will commence June 15, 2010 following the retirement of President Eugene C. Bay.

Following parish service as an Episcopal priest in Delaware and New Jersey, McKelvey served as the suffragen bishop of the Diocese of Newark before coming to Rochester in 1999, where he served as bishop until his retirement in 2008.

Included in his extensive community service, is membership on the boards of trustees of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the Episcopal Senior Life Communities and the Rochester Red Wings. He has served on the Board of CRCDS since 2000.

Of his appointment, Bishop McKelvey commented: “I look forward to serving the School and the task of theological education in this important way. Having served on the School’s board and in my role as bishop, I know that the School is needed more than ever by the Church, and in particular, the Church in Western New York, and is a valued resource in our community.”

Retiring President Eugene Bay said: “Jack McKelvey’s willingness to serve as Interim President is a gift to The Divinity School. As a Trustee he has demonstrated his commitment to the School and its mission of training women and men for ministry. I have no doubt that the School will flourish under his leadership.”

John Wilkinson, Chair of the Divinity School’s Board of Trustees and Pastor of Rochester’s Third Presbyterian Church, stated: “The Board is delighted and grateful that Bishop McKelvey is willing to undertake this important task. He knows the Rochester community and the School’s needs well, and will bring a full range of pastoral and administrative gifts to this office as the School faces its future. We will welcome his leadership. At the same time, we are deeply grateful to Gene Bay for his leadership over the past four years. Among his many accomplishments, he has helped right the School’s financial situation and put us in the position to move ahead into a bright future. Gene Bay’s contribution to CRCDS cannot be overstated.”

The Board will soon appoint a presidential search committee, which will begin its work as Bishop McKelvey assumes office.

Coincidentally, Bishop McKelvey will be the School’s Commencement Speaker this Saturday, May 15 at 10:00 a.m. at Asbury First United Methodist Church.

About Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School

CRCDS is an institution that possesses a deep commitment to progressive and prophetic theological inquiry, authentic scholarship and biblical faith; all in the tradition of the Social Gospel. Founded in 1817 and a presence in Rochester since 1850, CRCDS is a graduate professional school of theology. Conferring Doctor of Ministry, Master of Divinity and Master of Arts degrees; CRCDS has a long and proven commitment to the Social Gospel, Black Church Studies and the Program for the Study of Women and Gender in Church and Society.

The school’s theological legacy is rooted in the lives of: former faculty member, Walter Rauschenbusch renowned worldwide as the “Father of the Social Gospel”; 1951 Crozer graduate The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Marjorie Matthews, United Methodist Bishop, the first woman to be elected bishop in any denomination; and Howard Thurman, theologian, author and civil rights pioneer.